FIDE November Ratings: Carlsen 1st, Anand 8th

Most chess fans are more interested in the live ratings these days, but after a huge number of top events have finished, it's a good idea to check on the official FIDE ratings. The World Chess Federation published its November 2013 list on Thursday. The top 3 is still 1. Magnus Carlsen, 2. Levon Aronian and 3. Vladimir Kramnik. Hikaru Nakamura is the world's number 4 player and Alexander Grischuk is 5th.

Magnus Carlsen will of course start his first title match as the clear number one in the world — his lead over Levon Aronian, the only other 2800 player at the moment, is 69 points. With the smallest possible margin, Hikaru Nakamura is fourth, one point ahead of Alexander Grischuk.

Fabiano Caruana is number six in the world and he is followed by 45-year-old Boris Gelfand, who has been doing very well from the moment he played Anand. The World Champion is one spot behind the Israeli GM and will play his fourth match as the world's number eight. The top 10 is completed by the two players who qualified for the 2014 Candidates Tournament via the Grand Prix: Veselin Topalov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Etienne Bacrot won no less than 19 points, and moved up from 22 to 15. That was Anish Giri's spot last month, but the young Dutch GM dropped to 20th place again. Teimour Radjabov continued his dive and is now out of the top 30.

Chessbase had a story this week on Wei Yi, who became the youngest GM in the world in February 2013, and is now the youngest player ever to cross the 2600 mark.

On the women's list, the not very active Judit Polgar is still the clear number one, but her lead over the runner-up (Hou Yifan) isn't that big anymore: 60 points. Humpy Konery is third, 11 points behind the World Champion. Just like in the men's list, the difference between number four (Anna Muzychuk) and five (Zhao Xue) is just one point. After a good year of chess, Bela Khotenashvili is now a top 10 player.

Below you'll find the new top 100. Due to technical issues the women's list and the top 20 for juniors & girls cannot be included here but hopefully later.

El-Ajedrecista wrote "I think Carlsen is a very talented player. He is the very best of the new generation of Neo-Romantic players who simply try to win and are not concerned with principle or an opening advantage. (Nakamura, Caruana, Wang Yue, Wang Hao.... Very good players, but ultimately they rely on specific tactical lines and really have nothing new to say about chess strategy) This can be a great in tournaments, but ill suited to match play."

You write like a journalist, high on rhetoric and generalizations, low on meaning. "specific tactical lines" all players rely on "specific tactical lines" when the position calls for it. "This is great for tournaments and not match play".... Give specific examples from past matches showing where "specific tactical lines" were overpowered by "strategy" as if one automatically rules out the other.

"Nakamura, Caruana, Wang Hao and Wang Yue" looks like you visited the FIDE rating lists picked out a bunch of young players in the top 20 and made your case...LOL. Show us specific examples of how Nakamura and Caruana have the same style.

"I think Carlsen is a very talented player"... "Neo romantic players"... are you an art critic now? As if by starting with a complement you kind of give legitimacy to your hollow point without giving specifics and using unverifiable journaliste. There is nothing specifically new nor romantic about present day GMs, and Carlsen is just very good at middle game strategy where he outmanouvres his opponents, not much unlike Kasparov or Fischer... and most great players.

"The ability to put great positional pressure is lacking today"...LOL give specific examples. Karpov was a very positional player, but that is a matter of subtle style difference not black/white, at the end of it chess is a mechanical process not a romantic epic, you get better positions u win the game. Whether you finish it off Kasparov style or Karpov style is a matter of style but you don't win games without better positions. Nothing romantic about that.

C'mon man, stop taking us for a ride with your conman articles. LOL...You would make a good journalist though:)

Philidor.... I agree with you.... bleeddogerblue.... you hit it right on the money.... its crazy how in other countries chess is worshiped like a god... but here in the united states... it takes a back seat to stupidness..... smh

I completely agree. Carlsen is a very talented player but I don't think his "I will just outplay you" style is suited towards match play. Anand is an excellent technician. Give him a drawn position, and he'll draw it every time. The same can be said about Kramnik. Boris Gelfand is also an amazing player who plays incredibly principled chess. He always strives to get the most he can out of the opening. His no nonsense style of simply always trying to find the strongest moves, and his ability to exert incredible positional pressure on his opponents (a la Karpov or Kramnik) is sorely lacking in modern chess today.

I think Carlsen is a very talented player. He is the very best of the new generation of Neo-Romantic players who simply try to win and are not concerned with principle or an opening advantage. (Nakamura, Caruana, Wang Yue, Wang Hao.... Very good players, but ultimately they rely on specific tactical lines and really have nothing new to say about chess strategy) This can be a great in tournaments, but ill suited to match play.

I think Anand will win this first match. Carlsen will learn a lot and I think he will rework his openings and become World Champion in a few years.

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